A few quickies for the Drrons..

[drron]

Sunday and time to leave Launceston and head south to Hobart.A short stop at a famous bridge in Campbelltown.

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Still part of the Midland highway and it turns 180 next year.It has though been reinforced.Wood sculptures in the park beside.

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And the old pub over the road.Now a coffee shop and bookstore.

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[drron]

We arrived into Hobart so drove around the waterfront.The Derwent is magnificent-

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Different vessels.

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Drove to MACq01 just after midday.I thought we were about to get a room when the second agent intervened.Said they would try to get a room for us before 1300 and they would ring when it was ready.No call received so we went for a walk.Here is the MACq01 building-

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The Frogmore restaurant where we would have lunch to the right.
At 1300 we were seated.My view-

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Mrsdrron's view-

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It was a bit breezy outside so we moved inside.

 

[drron]

So Sunday lunch was at Frogmore Atmosphere which is in the MACq01 building.Unfortunately it appears it is not doing as well as expected with Atmosphere now limited to Sunday lunch.The 6 course menu is now no longer offered but as we had booked it we did have it as did another table of 4.Only 5 tables with 12 diners for this Sunday.
First served a seafood rillette with potato crisps.You certainly couldn't use the crisps to pick up the miture as they just broke.

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The served a pot which separated into 4 pices each with a different morsel-

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First "bacon and eggs on toast',Fresh Tassie wasabi on a prawn cracker,"Greek salad"-tomato and potato base with drops of cucumber,olive and fetta paste.The last the star-a porcini muffin.
Next salmon wrapped around a potato and prawn salad with asparagus dust.A little disappointing as basically a potato salad.

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Then a tuna tartare with salmon roe and pickled cucumber.Mrsdrron was a little disappointed as she doesn't appreciate tuna.As is becoming common no menu given up front.She would have appreciated a salmon substitution.I loved it.

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Next octopus and chorizo.

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The seafood ended here so the rest in a second post.

 

[drron]

The next dish was quail on a pumpkin mash.

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Next pork belly,a pork ball with an apple jelly and pickled red cabbage-

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At this point the chef came out and at at our table and had a chat.We had heard he first started at a Michelin starred restaurant in the Netherlands.We had told our server that the original 4 small plates were reminiscent of our meal at Le Manoir Interscaldes-he certainly knew it very well.He asked about our other experiences and we mentionedEric Ripert who he had met then told us of a Melbourne chef who had gone to Copenhagen-we ate at Geranium and met him there.He certainly does know his stuff so hopefully he will be able to continue.
I was a bit quick to tuck into desserts.This did look a lot better when served-lemongrass ice cream with lemon foam.

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The only complaint was that it should have been a bigger glass.
I managed to conceal my attack on the strawberry dessert-

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All in all a very god meal but sadly will be no longer available.
However another surprise when we got back to our room-another email from Amex.

 

[drron]

So back to MACq01 and our room was ready naturally.The room look good-

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However it is more style than function.The lighting is poor.I like to do a bit on the computer after mrsdrron retires but the small lamp on the desk is on the same switch as one of the bed lights and the room light.All on or all off.Bathroom lighting poor.Shower poorly designed-water runs out into bathroom rather than to the floor outlet.
But to the view.

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But-

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So avoid waterfront views with lower numbers.not only does it seem this is the tugs regular berth but noise from the restaurant below.Fortunately the restaurant not open Sunday,Monday nights.

 

[drron]

In the evening the clouds descend but leave the top of Mt.Wellington clear.

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With the Luxury Escapes deal you do get a continental breakfast but you could buy up to include a cooked breakfast.Coffee/tea was an extra $4,5 depending on size.Interestingly on both mornings there were 7 on the Luxury Escapes deal on the first page of eligible rooms for breakfast.
The morning was beautiful so after brekkie a short walk around the hotel.You can sail on this yacht with a famous name-Helsal 4.

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At the end of our corridor it was all glass giving us views of the Henry Jones hotel and also the first hotel we stayed at in Hobart.It was the early 70s and it was then a Sheraton.

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The tug left giving us an uninterrupted view of the harbour-

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We then took a walk over to Salamanca for a look around the shops before our lunch at Glasshouse.First the recently installed sculptures of Irish convicts sent to Van Diemans Land-

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[drron]

We browsed several Art Galleries and shops.Had a sit down in the Parliament square gardens.A nice spot with a view of what else but-

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Then to lunch.To me the Glasshouse is well worth a visit.Sensational food.At lunch there is a 2 course for $35 and 3 courses for $48 menu.mrsdrron had 2 courses,I 3.I started off with their Japanese style oysters on seaweed with wasabi-

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For main mrsdrron had the salmon with broccolini on a bed of smashed broad beans and peas.Doesn't sound like much but was superb-

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Whilst I went with the pork belly.Literally melt in your mouth.great taste.

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All washed down with a Freycinet vineyards Wineglass Bay Sav blanc.One of the best SBs we have had-

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For desserts mrsdrron went with the rhubarb dessert and I what basically was a deconstructed peanut brittle.Both were very nice-

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Finally the view-

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The Mona Ferry goes from here as well.
On our way out mrsdrron got talking to the opal shop there.Ended up buying a couple of pearl opals-a thing thought up by a guy from the Sunshine coast who she had already bought one of these from.Those here were from the Sunshine coast.

 

[RooFlyer]

So Sunday lunch was at Frogmore Atmosphere which is in the MACq01 building.Unfortunately it appears it is not doing as well as expected with Atmosphere now limited to Sunday lunch.The 6 course menu is now no longer offered but as we had booked it we did have it as did another table of 4.Only 5 tables with 12 diners for this Sunday.

I'm shocked by this - it can't have been open for more than a couple of weeks, and the summer high season coming up!

 

[drron]

Tuesday arrives and we are off to Saffire.Once out of Hobart the highway does twist and turn.hate to drive it frequently.Mrsdrron doesn't take easily to such roads and often has a case of motion sickness.Yet she doesn't get seasick.We arrived a little early and drove around to the NP Visitor's centre then the thriving town of Coles Bay.They had a visitor-

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Although it was blue skies the wind was pretty strong so lots of white caps on the bay.

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On arrival it was straight to lunch-a selection of salads and if you need it a selection of 2 hot dishes.We didn't need them.great view for lunch-

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After lunch and unpacking the glasses of wine I had for lunch kicked in so a long post prandial nap.i forgot I hadn't taken as many pics of the room as usual so here are the ones taken before I nodded off-

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The layout is very similar to the Southern Ocean lodge.Not surprising as they admit to getting the inspiration from there.
The view from the room-

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The wind got a lot stronger in the afternoon and all the aquatic experiences were cancelled.I felt it turned out better to have my little sleep.

 

[RooFlyer]

Although it was blue skies the wind was pretty strong so lots of white caps on the bay.

Most of the bay is <5m deep, so unfortunately it doesn't take much to whip it up.

I'll be up there after some flatties in a week or so.

 

[drron]

Dinner on Tuesday.The amuse bouche was a smoked egg yolk on dukkah and a herbed butter.

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So tried successfully to drink a glass of every Tassie wine on the complimentary list.First night was pinots.

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We both started with a dozen local oysters.always on the menu.

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For mains mrsdrron had the pork belly-delicious.I had the lamb loin a little dry and bland.

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Mains always came with a dish of potatoes,a salad and one other dish.tonight asparagus.

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Dessert-raspberries and pistachios-

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And despite my afternoon nap slept soundly.Breakfast was always a choice of cereal with the emphasis on healthy stuff-you could have quinoa and kale all day if you wished.then a dish of fruit and a good choice of cooked items with a daily special.today it was off the menu-

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[drron]

At brekkie they had all the complimentary whiskies out-

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A bit too early.
The wind wasn't quite as bad as Tuesday so we decided on a morning walk.The visitors were leaving-

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I love Tassie rocks-

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Found my rock-

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Next is Saltwater creek which was a tin mining area with remains of an old tram line over the creek-

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You can see the area mined from Saffire.Apparently you can find saphires there hence the name of the resort.

 

[RooFlyer]

My favourite bream fishing spot, right there

 

[drron]

We found out that off that beach isn't bad for squid as well.

 

[drron]

We then proceeded to walk to the end of the beach-well nearly.

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The wind was getting stromger and only a lone seagull on the beach.

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Out from the resort is picnic island where you can stay.Said to be owned by an ex Victorian MP.

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Another resort further up the bay.And back to ours.

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A visitor before we went to lunch.

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At lunch we did try the hot dishes.confit duck for mrsdrron whilst I had the John Dory.

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[RooFlyer]

Out from the resort is picnic island where you can stay.Said to be owned by an ex Victorian MP.

Yes, Clem Newton-Brown.

That development ( about 4 huts) took years to be approved because locals didn’t want their view ‘spoilt’ Readers should be able to tell the high zoom of your pics.

 

[drron]

After lunch and it was off to the oyster experience.First the spat.These are very much harder to source now since Poms hit Tassie.Pacific Oyster Mortality syndrome.Although Coffin Bay is free from disease they sourced all their spat from Tassie so they will be in short supply this Christmas.

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There are some bigger ones for us-

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And don't we enjoy them-

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This is the lease for the Freycinet oyster farm.they produce 4 million oysters a year and 1 million are sold through that outlet.

The wind had come up again and the afternoon cruises were once again cancelled.but after our oyster indulgence we had another activity-the Old Devils Retirement home.

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The devils here are taken from the Devil breeding program sites when they reach 5.5 years and no longer breeders allowing younger devils to step up and take their turn.A really compassionate program.

 

[RooFlyer]

They had a visitor-

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Now identified as the yacht of German Billionaire Otto Happel. 67m long, 10m wide at the beam ...

 

[drron]

So more old devils.

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Yummy.Leg of wallaby.

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[drron]

Some of the flowers which we are eating-

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